


And Then There Was You

by then_let_it_be_true



Category: Poldark (TV 2015), Poldark - All Media Types
Genre: Chance Meetings, F/M, Post-Divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:00:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/then_let_it_be_true/pseuds/then_let_it_be_true
Summary: Demelza, wallowing in the misery of her divorce one year ago is taken by her friends to Ireland.  While there, they meet someone...





	And Then There Was You

****

Her marriage was over.  She had tried everything for so many years to make it work and she just couldn’t.  She thought she’d be relieved when she signed her name the last time on the divorce papers, but instead she was devastated.  She kept her “brave face” near the door, only putting it on when she _had_ to leave the house, which lately seemed was just to go to work.  She’d return home at the end of the day, draw her curtains, and climb into her bed to cry herself to sleep again.

Her friends let her do this for close to a year before they started a campaign to get her back amongst the living again.  She was always a list maker, and on several occasions her friends were privy to what she called her “bucket list.”  They knew one of her items was getting in a plane for the first time and seeing Ireland, so they secretly booked a flight for all of them.

They practically had to drag her kicking and screaming to the airport, but as expected, once she stepped off the plane, she had more fun than anyone else.  They did all the typical things tourists do like visit Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, tour Blarney Castle, see the cliffs of Moher, go to the Guinness Storehouse…they did it all.  And on the last evening before making their way back to the States, they found a quaint pub to give her what they had dubbed a “reverse bachelorette party.”  Instead of celebrating getting hitched, they were celebrating her freedom.

Leave it to a bunch of American women to get loud and raucous in an Irish pub.  They were creating quite a scene that everyone was taking notice of, including him. From across the room he could see this group of six tourists, all women, all of them attractive too, he thought.  He was certain if he went over and introduced himself, they’d have no idea who he was, and seriously, he much preferred it that way.  He was just about to go over to the bar and buy them another round when she came walking up.

She never really drank much, but had one shot with her friends to be “cordial.”  Her friends were toasted.  She left them laughing uproariously at the table to get the next round.  As she stood there waiting for the bartender, a man approached her.  He was in his mid-thirties, a bit younger than her she was afraid to admit, and was incredibly handsome; much darker than your typical fair-haired, blue-eyed Irishman.  He introduced himself as Ross Poldark, and immediately shook her hand.  She blushed and told him her name was Demelza and out of habit had also said her married last name.  One of her friends was now standing behind her, head on Demelza’s shoulder, staring at him.  “Who’s this?” her friend asked her.  “Uhhhh…this is Ross,” she said looking over at him questioningly as he nodded his head to indicate she had remembered correctly.  “Another round!” her friend shouted with her arms in the air at the bartender when Ross interjected to say, “on me,” and slapped bills down on the counter.  “Come join us,” her friend said to him as she grabbed his hand leaving him no choice but to go where he was led.

When they got back to the table her friend quickly introduced him to the others announcing, “This is…who did you say you were?”  Demelza was getting a bit embarrassed for him, but noted he seemed to be amused.  When he told them his name again, he saw that none of them brought up any of his shows or movies.  They had no idea who he was.  He sat down with them, asking where they were all from as it was easy to see they were tourists, and they quickly explained how they were celebrating Demelza’s divorce.  “Congratulations, right?” he said unsure it was the proper response, and she gave him a lukewarm smile. 

She was exhausted.  Unbeknownst to her friends, Demelza had just been going through the emotions of having fun.  She was a great actor.  She knew her friends had only the best intentions, and she didn’t want to disappoint them, but she was ready to go home.  Her sweatpants were calling her, there was a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in her freezer, and she knew there was probably something good to watch on the Hallmark Channel.  Forget Ireland, let’s go home. She excused herself from the group and sought out the bathroom.

She splashed cold water on her face from the sink, staring in her own eyes in the mirror as if she was imparting herself the strength to survive the rest of this trip.  In the reflection she noticed a woman coming out of the stall behind her.  “You know who that is?” the woman quickly asked her.  “Who?” Demelza asked.  “That man all of you are talking to,” she said with malice in her voice.  “He introduced himself to us as Ross something,” Demelza offered, amazed that none of them could seem to remember his last name.  “Unbelievable!” the woman exclaimed as if she were incredibly angry.  “Every woman and girl in this pub would gladly trade places with all of you, and none of you even know who he is!’  “Should we?” Demelza asked her.  Again she was shouting, “Unbelievable!  Ross POLDARK, since you can’t seem to even remember his last name is Ireland’s favorite new actor, Dublin’s beloved son, on the list of GQ magazine’s hottest men!  But apparently this is lost on all of you!” she said as she stomped out of the bathroom.

When Demelza went back to the table, she really scrutinized him to see if he showed any signs of being a celebrity.  No. He was very down to earth, laughing with all of her friends just as loudly as they were, like he had known them forever, and he had had considerably less to drink than them.  He flashed her a quick smile as she resumed her chair next to him.

He called a cab to take her and her friends back to their hotel and even came outside to make sure they got into the car ok.  They were standing on the sidewalk as the taxi was pulling up when one of her friends shouted, “Kiss her!” and motioned to Demelza, “the celebration isn’t complete until she gets a kiss to signify she’s back on the market!”  “This isn’t even a real rule,” Demelza shouted to her and stopped when she noticed how close he was to her face.  She turned to look at him and immediately his lips were on hers.  It was absolutely electric and she wasn’t even drunk.  The entire group held a collective breath as they watched. He was a spectacular kisser, she noted as the tingles went down her spine. He lingered longer than he should have and pulled away from her slowly as her friends broke out in applause.  Another friend grabbed his cellphone he was clutching in his hand saying, “I’ll add her to your contacts so you can call her!”  Her friends were wasted.  Demelza noticed that she indeed was putting her number into his phone; evidently he had no passcode to be impeded by.  He waved as they all squeezed themselves into the cab, and she knew she would never see him again.

The next morning they got up early, taking aspirin and drinking coffee for their pounding heads.  Demelza, of course, felt fine as she had hardly drank anything and was ready to get back to the safety of her cave.  They boarded their plane and slept most of the way home.  They were all in their hometown airport, pulling their suitcases behind them when Demelza’s phone went off.  “Hang on,” she told them, stopping the procession of rolling luggage to look at her screen.  It was a text from a number she had never seen before but it said, “Just checking to see if you got home ok.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually something I wrote during the summer of 2017. I don't even have a second chapter. I thought it might be fun if you told me where you think this story is going. I'm hoping this will inspire me to try another storyline...


End file.
